Maya's eyes got wide and she looked around the room, trying to sort out what exactly was going on.
"What?!" Riley shrieked. "Are you serious?!"
"Yeah," Cory answered, chuckling.
"Maya, this is amazing!" Riley exclaimed, turning around to look at Maya.
A smile slowly grew on Maya's face and she stood up. She walked over to Cory and stopped. She looked at the smirk on his face and then hugged him.
Riley started laughing and ran over to her father to join in on the hug. Topanga then stood up to wrap her arms around the group.
"I can't believe it," Maya said.
Topanga then decided it was time to inform the others of the thought she'd had a few minutes ago.
"So, you all realize that this isn't it, right?" Topanga said.
"What?" Riley asked as the hug disbanded.
"Well, it takes two to have a relationship," Topanga answered. "Haven't you realized that Maya's mom hasn't exactly been taken into consideration here?"
Everyone in the room let that realization hit them and then was at a loss for words.
Maya broke the silence by saying, "Well, we've got half of the equation on board. One down, one to go."
"But your mom is going to be pretty hard, isn't she?" Riley asked. "I mean, she doesn't seem like someone who would admit she likes anyone, especially after the thing with your dad."
"I don't know," Maya said. "I think I might be able to get it out of her. I can see how she feels about Shawn. But I'd have to get her alone."
"Well, considering all of us except Auggie, Shawn, Angela, and Katy are all in here, that shouldn't be too difficult," Riley answered. "We just have to get rid of Auggie, Shawn, and Angela. Except we can't let Shawn and Angela be alone again!"
"Maybe we can call Auggie in, saying we need to have a family conversation," Cory began.
"Ooh, we can pull the 'baby discussion' card!" added Topanga.
"But then how do we get Shawn and Angela out?" Riley questioned. The three Matthews were deep in thought.
"Can't I just tell my mom I need to talk to her and you can all go back out there?" Maya asked, wondering how nobody else saw the simple solution.
"Oh, right," Riley said, nearly blushing with embarrassment at not recognizing the easier solution.
"Well, we could do that," Cory said. "If we wanted to make it simple. I've always been more of an extravagant planner myself."
Topanga rolled her eyes. "Save your pride for another time, honey," she said, smiling at him. Cory made a face in response.
Maya walked over to the door. "So are we going?"
Riley and Topanga walked eagerly toward Maya, but Cory stayed where he was and watched everyone else walk away.
"Cory, quit moping and come on if you want to be a part of this," Topanga said teasingly.
"Fine," Cory said, walking slouched over to them. "But my plan was better. Remember that!"
Maya rolled her eyes this time and then opened the door to leave.
When they got out to the living room, they saw Shawn holding Auggie at the kitchen table, sitting with Katy and Angela. They appeared to be playing The Friends Game.
"Well who's going to accompany me on my business trip to Paris?" Katy asked, trying to entice the other players.
"Ooh, me!" Auggie yelled, just as Shawn and Angela were about to speak.
Katy smiled and said, "Okay, I choose Auggie. Pack your bags, bud!"
Then Shawn noticed the group standing in the hallway watching them.
"Well, it's about time!" Shawn said. "What were you guys doing in there?"
"It's a long story," Cory said, walking into the kitchen.
"We were having a discussion. About the new baby," Maya said, giving Cory a side-glance. Cory beamed with pride, hearing Maya use part of his excuse. Once again, Topanga rolled her eyes at her husband's shenanigans.
"Oh," Shawn answered. "Well, I suppose that deserves a lengthy conversation."
"Yeah," Maya said. She walked over to the table where Auggie was sitting and stopped at his seat. Auggie looked away purposely, showing he was still mad at Maya.
"Hey, Auggie," Maya said softly. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
After a few seconds, Auggie turned to Maya and said, "You have 30 seconds."
"That's all I need."
"Fine," Auggie said, standing up.
Maya led him to the couch and sat him down.
"Listen, bud. I kind of lost my temper back there, and I'm really sorry about that."
"Hmm," Auggie said stubbornly.
"I was upset about…the plan, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry," she whispered.
Auggie just looked at Maya, crossing his arms.
"But I think I have something that'll make it up." Auggie raised his eyebrows.
"I have some new…developments."
"Oh?" Auggie said, pretending not to care.
"If I tell you will you take it as a peace treaty?"
"Depends on how juicy it is," Auggie said.
"Oh, it's pretty juicy. So do we have a deal?"
Auggie put his hand out and Maya shook it. Then she whispered to him, "Shawn likes my mom."
Auggie's eyes got wide and then he started jumping up and down in his seat with excitement, grinning widely. Maya started laughing at his reaction and then stood up.
"A hug to finish the deal?" Maya asked.
Auggie ran the three feet between them and jumped into her arms. Maya hugged him tightly and then set him down.
Then Auggie spoke out loud, trying to communicate with Riley, who was watching.
"Riley! Maya told me about how Sh-" he interrupted himself by clapping his hand over his mouth.
"Alright," Maya said, half-laughing. "I told him about how I, uh…well, I told him a secret. Auggie, run along and play," she said.
Auggie nodded, understanding the punishment for the close call he caused. He ran into the hallway, still covering his mouth.
"What is up with that boy today?" Angela asked.
"I don't know," Cory said. "Who knows? The world may never know. Nature herself is-"
"Okay!" Topanga interrupted.
Cory looked at Topanga with a look of gratitude for stopping his nervous rant.
"So what have you guys been doing out here?" Topanga asked, trying to save their plan from being announced to the party.
"Well, at first we just sat and talked because we expected you to come out," Angela said, giving Topanga a look. "And then it was pretty clear that you weren't, so we decided to play The Friends Game. And now here we are."
"Oh," Topanga said, trying to smile. "Sorry I didn't come back, I just found Cory…talking about…the baby…and I had to stay."
"Uh, huh," Angela said, not believing Topanga.
There was an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Hey, Mom?" Maya said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, hun?" Katy answered.
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"What is this, chat with Maya time?" Shawn joked.
"Ha, ha, Hunter," Maya said with a blank expression.
"Yeah, sure," Katy said. "What about?"
"It's just…something important."
"Okay," Katy said, beginning to worry a little.
"Hey, Riles, can we go to your room to talk?" Maya asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Oh, sure, Maya. Anytime you want. My room is your room. Mi casa es su casa," Riley said.
Cory nudged Riley unnoticeably and nearly silently whispered, "Subtle."
Riley looked up out of the corner of her eye at her dad, annoyed. "Like you did any better," she whispered back.
"Thanks," Maya said. Katy gave the girls a weird look, noticing their weird behaviors, but she followed Maya down the hallway.
I hope you liked the chapter! I laughed when I was writing Cory's parts in this chapter, so I hope you thought he was funny! I also thought I'd play with the whole 'Riley is a clone of Cory' thing, hence her behavior modeling his.
Please review! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see reviews! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you'd like to see. Thanks for reading! :)